The city needs to fund more black-led, grassroots organizations to address issues such as poverty and violence, which are most prevalent in Milwaukee’s black community, according to black nonprofit leaders.

First and foremost, a clear vision is needed, said Sister Patricia Rogers, executive director of the Dominican Center for Women, a nonprofit that provides adult education and housing support to Amani residents. She said coordinating where funds are going, who the organizations receiving funds are serving and how the money is being spent is paramount.

“If we do not get that coordination of funds, we’re going to continue to just throw money at the wall,” said Rogers.

Rogers’ comments came after the presentation of a report that noted black-led, grassroots organizations — those that had a black executive and majority African-American board — make up a smaller percentage of Neighborhood Strategic Planning Area (NSP) lead agencies on the North Side than white-led organizations, although the areas they work in are primarily black. Four of 12 — or one-third — of the lead agencies on the North Side are black-led; those four received only 17 percent of the total funds allocated to all 12 organizations. The funds, while federal, are distributed by the City of Milwaukee through the Community Development Grants Administration.

Lead agencies were used as the report’s primary example of this disparity, however it notes other qualitative examples of white-led organizations receiving priority over black-led agencies, and the relative lack of impact these white-led agencies have. The Community Development Grants Administration plans to distribute $11.5 million to dozens of organizations in 2018.

Milwaukee NAACP President Fred Royal addresses the group of nonprofit leaders. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)

Organization leaders who attended the presentation suggested policy changes are needed, including lowering the amount of insurance required to receive city funds and getting money to organizations more quickly. Many attendees, including Ald. Russell Stamper, who heads the Community and Economic Development Committee, endorsed a “mutual aid” clause in city contracts that would require agencies receiving funds to utilize organizers who reside in the neighborhoods where they work.

“Why can’t we reinvent the wheel? Why can’t we put the cork back in the bottle?” asked Milwaukee NAACP President Fred Royal, who was on the team that compiled the report.

Royal noted that these funds were being allocated to black-led, community organizations until the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan used the narrative of the “welfare queen” to gain public support for cuts to social service programs. Black-led, grassroots organizations, such as the Black Panthers, which pioneered free meal programs, and Milwaukee Commandos, who provided re-entry and job programs, were hit hardest.

According to Steven L. Mahan, director of the city’s Community Development Grants Administration, agencies that receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds must carry a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance, and could be required to carry additional coverage “depending on what type of work you’re doing.” Rogers and others said this creates a barrier for smaller organizations to apply. The Dominican Center paid $1,200 for liability insurance in 2017, including an additional $5,300 for workers’ compensation insurance.

Mahan said organizations do not have to carry insurance to apply for CDBG funds but must secure it before signing a contract. He said grants received from the Grants Administration can be used to pay insurance premiums.

Rogers also noted CDBG funds typically are not available to agencies for three or four months, which Ald. Russell Stamper said hinders their ability to survive. But Mahan said the city is in the same position. Until it receives its award letter from the federal government, the city has no funds to disperse. He said the process has been delayed for the last five years, adding, “I have no doubt that it’s tough for smaller organizations, or larger ones for that matter.”

Reggie Moore, director of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention, said the biggest challenge for his office during the past two years has been the “systems and processes” that make it difficult to work with smaller organizations.

Representatives of small community organizations who were at the event said they often do not have the time or training to adequately manage their organizations, because they have so many responsibilities. Almost all said they struggled to secure grants, which often have administrative requirements, because they spend the majority of their time delivering services.

“I still don’t get paid for the extra work that I do,” said Mays, who added that she often works long hours and evenings.

“We’re wearing so many hats,” said Dalvery Blackwell, co-founder and executive director of the African-American Breastfeeding Network. “I much prefer to do lactation services than record my financials.”

Many of the attendees said starting a black-led organization that could help small nonprofits with administrative tasks or act as a fiscal agent could be helpful. Mahan noted that the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee can provide organizations applying for CDBG funds with technical assistance. He also suggested that foundations could have more leeway than the city to adjust their funding requirements to allow small organizations to build capacity.

But Deborah Blanks, a former Social Development Commission (SDC) CEO and author of the report said, “Funders are not always receptive when these organizations come to the door.”

Ultimately, she said funders — whether in government or philanthropy — need to develop relationships with grassroots leaders so they can work together “to identify what the barriers are, and how we break down those barriers.”

What else is new? This is historically consistent and typical. Poverty has always meant Big Money in Milwaukee, If you are not at the table or in a position to influence policy why do we expect a different result? Can someone tell me why Milwaukee is labeled the WORST city in America for black families to live? Or why Wisconsin leads the nation in racial prison disparity? The big gorilla in the room is RACISM (attitudes based on race) pure and simple. Until folks are ready to be honest and sit down and discuss all of the pieces of the puzzle we will never see the entire picture.

The laws and attitude of AMERIKKKA were never designed to protect the people it oppresses! When you are at the top or near the top of so many negative statistical categories for people of color!! When the social and economic conditions that plague our black and brown communities are deplorable! When the same people continue to receive grant monies and political favors with few results! Nothing will change until the people galvanize and use its power!! The power has always been in the hands of the people when used effectively! 2020 City of Milwaukee elections are coming!! GET WOKE TO VOTE!!

Most foundation and government funding agency policies favor existing non-profits. It’s easier for existing non-profits to qualify for continued or increased funding than for new organizations to qualify for ANY funding at all.

Funders want to see groups handle programs and record-keeping for a while before they award money. That is true for granting agencies in general, whether public or private. You have to show not just that you have a big heart and a good idea, but also a specific plan that will work and a way to prove it. That probably will mean working for a while without much financial support until you show you can handle what you’ve got and use it to get the outcomes that you claim you want to work for. It definitely means that you won’t even be considered unless you follow the rules to apply. Same rules for everyone.

I would point out that an organization being “white-led” does not prove that the organization doesn’t already include many people of color on the board or within the organization. In the rush to label “white-led agencies” as, apparently, ineffective and mono-cultural, I’m not sure this article was fair at all, especially because on-profit boards are often more powerful than the figurehead (or hard-working butt kicker, depending) who runs the organization.

Here’s something the reporter did not bother to find out and that the complainants probably don’t know. Some of the largest foundation grant funders in Milwaukee will not even consider an application for funding within the city if the applicant or people on the board are not people of color. County and city governments also prefer applicants of color or groups that show diversity in their ranks. That is not an interpretation. That is policy. They are taking an action in an effort to benefit people of color in Milwaukee. You may disagree with this approach, but it’s there, and it’s clear what populations it intends to serve.

People who open non-profits in Milwaukee typically have to work for free or for practically free for a long time. They often have to work a full time paying job in order to survive while they’re working a second, mostly unpaid job to get their non-profits off the ground. It sometimes seems impossible to get money to pay the service providers like professionals instead of like volunteers. Once you get money, you end up paying other people and keeping nothing for yourself. Yes, you might get enough to buy art supplies for kids or to pay for food to serve people in need, but just try getting enough to pay yourself so you don’t end up living in your van. That’s not different depending on race. It’s horrible and inhumane, but it’s standard.

Remember that next time you decide to complain about some social service, arts, or education group, or about those handing out grant money. They’re committed enough to put a lot of time in for very little in return. They don’t deserve constant criticism and the most brutal condemnation every time someone is dissatisfied or thinks they could do it better.

The paperwork load is hard, and the red tape is thick for everyone new. There are not separate forms and policies for separate population groups. And yes, we would all rather provide services than track expenditures. But that requirement is not held over the heads of some organizations and not others. If you’re not prepared to put in the time to do both parts of the equation, you’re not prepared to survive in the non-profit world.

So before another complex problem that people should come together to solve is framed as an obvious case of nasty people being racists, and before the term is yet again used by this publication to vilify people (such as people at funding agencies, many of whom are trying to find ways to distribute money to communities of color, and many of whom actually ARE people of color), please consider that calling racism at every possible turn is not necessarily accurate, can be unjust, and can target people you want to help, as well as many people who have already paid a lot of dues to create careers in service.

Walk a mile in a black man’s shoes on the North side of town and you will understand the pain of the
socio-economic disparity that is the legacy of Milwaukee. It’s easy to talk while surrounded by powerful connections and support systems. The decision makers and benevolent community funding sources get tax write offs for their benevolence. Their corporate board decisions are based not on need but what is best for the bottom line of the corporation. Shareholders wouldn’t have it any other way. With all due respect there is no intention for reducing poverty or removing the barriers that create Milwaukee’s perpetual disparities. Without poverty many people would be out of business. Would laid off social workers get hired by the funder’s of their out of business non-profit agencies? The Black community was better off before the freeway. There was very little need for poverty agencies back then. What’s the difference now? Answer that question and you can solve the poverty problem. It may be complex but it’s not rocket science.

The fact that one thing happens after another thing does not by any stretch of the imagination prove that the first “thing” caused the second. The fact that outcomes haven’t been achieved does not prove some vast conspiracy to keep those things from happening. And it sure as heck doesn’t prove that even a sizable percentage of the people involved had bad intentions and loads of power.

Interesting claim. “There is no intention. . .” Wow, you are quite the psychic. And it’s great that you find it so easy to level an accusation across decades at hundreds of people just because they haven’t found a way to solve a problem that pretty much no one else has figured out, either. It’s so easy to sit on the sidelines and claim that “If they would just {fill in some action that’s been tried or doesn’t work within the given structures)” everything would be fine.

You are actually suggesting that those evil social service workers are trying to keep people in poverty to hold onto their fat paychecks, is that correct? I’ve heard this before about social workers and teachers and government employees. I’m sure that they would be gratified to know that the years of training and education that they are often still paying for out of pocket in order to provide services they considered personal missions were really just a way to take advantage of communities they’re only pretending to serve.

Most of the people you’re talking about have been trying desperately to make good things happen, but they’ve been slowed down by the complexity of the problem (and yes, a few unethical individuals, whose crimes and greed should not be blamed on everyone else). It’s easy, for example, to complain about the Federal government’s many problems, but saying that “government workers” as a group are evil, bigoted people on the take is just a lie, and it’s a lie that plays into the Republican view of the world (government is evil, so privatize everything for profit). Most ordinary government workers in D.C. are trying to keep us all afloat with every fiber of their being, and practically none of them have control over what goes on at the highest levels. You’re in a state that voted in Scott Walker and Trump. Are YOU at fault for that? Are YOU complicit in that? Do you say, “Well, that’s me!” when some comedian makes jokes about Red State Wisconsin?

Systemic problems are hard because they are complex and have many moving parts, often the result of many well-meaning people trying to patchwork their way through a complex problem that forces individuals to work through a tangled web of competing interests and ever-changing social conditions to make even the smallest step forward. Systems are necessary, but they can be the biggest part of a problem. They can be fixed, but continually accusing individuals of willingly and knowingly perpetuating some vast, evil conspiracy doesn’t do any good at all.

Now, how do you untangle a web of competing interests and patchworked solutions that has become even more entangled over decades of planning, changing plans, altering plans, and periods of incorporating and kicking out stakeholders? Answer THAT and you can begin to make the tiniest step toward solving a systemic problem.

Complaints are necessary. They’re part of how we know that things aren’t working, and they are our First Amendment right. Accusations, especially when people leveling them are claiming to know the hearts and minds of others they’ve never bothered to talk to and whose perspectives they refuse to consider, are a problem in and of themselves. They are a distraction and an insult, and when they’re leveled at innocent, hard-working people based solely on assumptions born of frustration, they’re part of the problem that keeps us from coming together so we can move forward.

And most disturbingly, they’re becoming the whole conversation about every problem in this country. “I accuse YOU!” “No, I accuse YOU!” How about people who are dissatisfied make their complaints, offer a suggestion, really focus on communicating the outcome that would satisfy them, and work toward that goal with others? Could we give that a try? Maybe once?

Just as a note, the group that conducted the survey defined Black-led organizations as ones with both a Black executive and majority Black board (which we explained in the story). I would suggest you read the report in its entirety, as it goes into more depth (particularly regarding the effectiveness and perception of grassroots vs. government-funded organizations) than I could in this article.

If it were rocket science we should then be building rockets to the moon or colonize Mars where there is no poverty as of yet. If it’s more than rocket science then there is no hope for solving the issues of poverty. No one would be smart enough to figure it out.

I really hope you’re wrong. I hope there’s an answer. Maybe “term limits” for processes and organizations? Maybe being able to hit a reset button now and then instead of to build new programming on top of old programming on top of this regulatory shift and that defunct group. . .